Pages

Things I've learnt from a year in University!

09:00:00

Hey Guys!

I hope you enjoyed my last post which was a really long post going into depth on my opinions on Lush Products in general. If you didn't catch that one, catch it here! I've seen a lot of "Things I've learnt.." posts roaming around my bloglovin' feed recently and I really wanted to join in on the bandwagon. I didn't really have a proper idea of what to write on, and then the idea of University came to me. Hopefully some of you who are already in University can relate to this post!

You lose your time management skills completely!I'm sure a lot of you college students will agree with this wholeheartedly. Before I came to Uni, I had to do my Leaving Cert exams to grant me a place. At that stage, I was extremely determined. I always had a study plan stuck on the wall with a list of tasks to perform in each subject. Now? It's the complete opposite. I do study now and again when a class test or something is coming up, but there is no where near as much dedication when it comes to my work. It is extremely difficult to balance the time between hanging with friends, spending time by yourself, studying, household chores and in my case keeping a blog!!!

It isn't necessary to be completely organised with household essentials when you come to college - I clearly recall being extremely organised when I was initially coming to college. I had accumulated a few mugs, plates and utensils for my on campus accommodation. What I didn't put into consideration was the fact that I was living with 5 other people who would also be taking things up with them. Now we have too many utensils in our house. We have about 7 frying pans which are not necessary at all, especially when people are willing to share most of the time.

You aren't necessarily going to be friends with your house mates - I remember thinking that I would become great friends with my house mates this year. You think you'll be spending a lot of time with them. However, you'd be surprised how little you see your house mates sometimes. Last week for example, I hadn't seen my house mate Clare for the majority of that week. Also sometimes you can get unlucky and live with people who you don't have much in common with.

You aren't necessarily going to be the best of friends with people on your course.

When I came to college at first, I thought that I'd mainly be hanging out with people who are in my course most of the time! However, it has become apparent that the exact opposite is true!! I'm not sure about some courses, but in the school of Agriculture, we have lectures with people in various other courses, from Human Nutrition, to Horticulture, to Equine Science to Food Science. There is about three hundred people in most of my lectures and because of that it can be very difficult to get to know people. I have found that I have bonded and formed strong friendships with people in Agri-Environmental, Animal and Crop Production as well as a girl in the exact same course as me!!!

People also forget that there is an array of clubs and societies in most universities. If you haven't been up to date with my blog, you wouldn't know that I was on a trip to France with the French society. I had great fun in Nice and I made some friendships which I hope will strengthen in time.

You're drinking tolerance levels go up!

Something that is strikingly true for me is that I can drink a lot more alcohol than I used to be able to drink. However, it has led to a few mistakes this year which I have learnt from (hopefully!) There is also a very high emphasis on going out in University. In Dublin, some people go out on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Personally, I like to go out now and again so I'll appreciate it a bit more.

You appreciate your parents a lot more - This is undoubtedly one of the biggest things I have learnt from living independently from my parents. I realise how much work it can be to organise a family unit. Sometimes I am not in the mood to cook, but I have to or I'll starve! Because I have started shopping and cooking for myself I really understand the amount of effort my parents would have gone through to put food on the table!

On the topic of shopping and fending for myself, I have really learnt how to get better value in products in the grocery stores, how to make various meals with few ingredients and many other skills.

I really hope that you enjoyed this post!

Feel free to post things you've learnt from your experiences in School or University in the comments. I would love to hear about them!

I'll see you soon,

Ellen

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Share This Story

You Might Also Like

13
comments

I am planning to go to uni after I finish school! And aha I definitely want to move away just so, I can like gain some independence also, did any of your friends come with you to uni or were you a complete newbie? :)

Hey Lara, I hope the leaving cert is going very well at the moment :) If you need study motivation, I also have written a lot of posts on study and tips! So happy I have motivated at least one person with this post. :) Where do you want to go to College?